New law could eliminate job discrimination for Californians with past convictions

A construction worker stands on the roof of a condo complex under construction on July 17, 2013 in Berkeley, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP) / AFP

California businesses that are considering hiring employees would no longer be able to ask potential workers about their criminal record on job applications if Governor Jerry Brown signs a bill meant to curb soaring recidivism rates.

Proponents of the bill have argued that excluding the question
from employment applications is necessary in order to prevent
Californians with convictions on their record from being
automatically screened out of a job. The widespread
discrimination among employers has made it very difficult for
many former convicts to find legitimate work and thus remain out
of prison.

Employers and hiring managers would still be permitted to ask an
individual about their criminal record. This measure, known as
Assembly Bill 218, would simply remove that question from
applications. They must first determine whether a prospective
employee is qualified for the position before examining whether
an individual has a criminal record, according to the Sacramento
Bee.

The bill is part of the “Ban the Box” movement that has sought to
persuade lawmakers across the US to make it easier for reformed
criminals to better themselves by finding gainful
employment.

“A mistake from the past shouldn’t be a life sentence to
joblessness,” Michelle Rodriguez, the staff attorney for Ban
the Box said in a statement to the press earlier this month.
“This bill gives hope to thousands of Californians who are
ready to work but are shut out from employment because they’re
automatically screened out from the start.”

The California State Senate approved Assembly Bill 218, which is
now in the hands of Governor Brown after being expanded to over
6,000 local and regional government agencies in state.

Supporters hope the law will ease California’s notoriously large
prison population. So many people are locked up throughout the
state that the US Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the
overcrowding constituted “cruel and unusual
punishment.”

When the Department of Corrections failed to correct the problem,
a federal judge ordered California to prepare to release
thousands of low-level inmates before their sentences expire.
Governor Brown said earlier this month that the Department of
Corrections was at work on rehabilitation programs to ease
inmates’ transition but as many as 12,000 inmates could be
release into society by the end of 2013.

In part because such problems are not unique to California, the
Ban the Box movement has steadily gained favor in major
metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Chicago, Boston,
and Philadelphia have adopted similar measures and more are
expected soon.

Approximately 65 million, or one-in-four, Americans has some kind
of criminal record, while close to 90 percent of employers
rely on criminal background checks, according to a 2011 report
from the National Employment Law Project. Consequently, roughly
two million Americans are shut out of the economy each year and
must turn to government support to survive.

The vicious cycle continues in states where drug offenders are
categorically denied food stamps and have no choice but to turn
to prostitution or drug dealing to provide for themselves and
those around them. Benjamin Todd Jealous, the president of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told
CBS that the government simply has no choice but to review its
treatment of former prisoners.

“Americans believe in second chances,” he said in 2011.
“We believe that when somebody has paid their debt to society,
they deserve the right to earn a living and reunite their
families.”